The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Sunderland vs. Swansea
Football teams from two working class towns face off at Sunderland’s Roker Park in the 60s.
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Overview
Positioned in the stands, this football fan’s silent film captures lively match action, but only the one Sunderland goal by Stan Anderson in a Division Two game against Swansea on 1 September 1962. The crowd are part of the spectacle, although the Roker roar is not heard during this convincing 3-1 victory for the home team, in which the charismatic Black Cats striker Brian Clough also scored.
As cheaper cine cameras came onto the market in the 1950s, amateurs were drawn to recording their football heroes in action, often editing in camera as an economy, but consequently failing to record some of the all-important goals. This film by a Roker resident, Ronald Torbet, unusually shot with an anamorphic lens, missed one by prolific Sunderland goal scorer Brian Clough, whose career was cut short at an icy Boxing Day match later that year when he sustained a serious knee injury that soon forced him to retire as a player at the age of just 29.
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